The Annals of Darkness: The Tower of Trials
by Shire Folk
Summary: Part IV. Torn from Radiant Garden with the battle still undecided, Sora and his friends find themselves in a strange place with no means of returning to where they'd come from. With the clock ticking, they must press on with the guidance and knowledge of the Spirit of Adventure and ascend the tower to become what they need to be before it's too late. Rated M for mature situations.


_Welcome back everybody. I have returned._

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, or any other trademarked works under copywrite. This work of fiction is for entertainment purposes only._

-A-D-

_**The Annals of Darkness**_

**Part IV: The Tower of Trials**

Chapter 1: A New Adventure

Darkness.

That was all that Sora could see as he came too. He had no idea how long he was out, only now he was able to hear the breathing of his friends and could feel their bodies pressing against him. Moisture tickled the skin on his cheeks, and he was pretty sure that he wasn't standing upright, but he had no conclusive evidence on that considering how things were at the moment.

"Okay," he said. "Who's awake?"

"I am," Kairi replied.

"Same here," said Yuffie.

"Uh…this really sucks," Riku said.

"I'm awake too," Roxas added. "Great plan, Sora. Just accept the blessing, and then we all get eaten."

"Hey, it could be worse," Riku said.

"How could this be worse!?" Roxas fired off.

"You could be injured and have the lingering taste of potions in your mouth, _while_ being digested in a god's stomach."

"Suck it up, you baby," Yuffie laughed.

There was a _thump_ sound, followed by one of them cursing.

"Dammit! That hurt! What did I hit!?" Roxas shouted.

"That would be my shin," Kairi replied dryly. "Next time you try to blindly kick at Riku, Roxas, remember that I'm right next to you and am wearing full plate."

"Roxas," Sora began, "chill out."

"What!?" Roxas replied, sounding somewhat furious.

"Seriously, you need to chill right now," Sora repeated, attempting to place his hands behind his head, and succeeding.

"I will not chill out!" Roxas refuted, like a stubborn toddler. "In case you have forgotten, my girlfriend needs immediate medical attention, and being stuck in the stomach of a god doesn't count as that!"

"Well there's nothing we can do about that now until we get out," Yuffie said. She made a sound as if she was stretching out in preparation to lounge, and Sora pondered how she could be achieving such motion considering how...

_Wait a second, it wasn't this roomy before, was it?_

Roxas sighed. "Still, great job, Sora, Kairi. You two picked a _fantastic_ Olympian to place our trust in."

"I would rather it be Athena that ate me than Dionysus," Kairi answered.

Sora nodded his head, not that anyone could see that he did so. "I met him, and I agree. It would stink of wine in here if he ate us."

"Hmm," Yuffie hummed thoughtfully for a moment, and Sora pictured her rubbing her chin or tapping her foot. "I wonder if we'd get contact drunk off of that?"

"I don't think you can get drunk off of the smell of wine, Yuffie," Riku said, "and why do you ask?"

"In case you haven't noticed," she replied, "right now is a perfect example of when somebody gets to say, 'I need a freaking drink', and I need a freaking drink!"

"I agree with you there, Yuffie,' Kairi moaned, "but...I probably shouldn't."

"Oh right...little miss Royal Highness is the underage drinker of our little gang. So why's that?"

Riku laughed, sounding a little pained as he did so. "Kairi doesn't have the greatest track record with her alcohol, remember?"

"Oh, you're talking about the time a few days ago when she burst into the war council, drunk off of just a couple shots of whiskey, called Maleficent a bitch, and then flew around everywhere throwing fireballs into the sky?"

Sora felt his eyes widen, even though he still couldn't see his hand in front of his face, and couldn't help but laugh. "What? Why didn't I hear about this?"

"Because it was embarrassing!" Kairi whined, probably putting her face into her hands to 'hide' her bright red cheeks. "Yuffie!"

The ninja laughed. "That's what older second best friends are for, Kairi. We learn all of your embarrassing secrets and only give away the tame ones for laughs. Besides, I thought that the more embarrassing one was when you dressed up in maid cosplay that night."

Sora laughed again in amazement, unable to believe his ears. "What?"

"She said something about wanting to 'serve' you," Riku said with a suggestive tone.

"Drop dead, Riku!"

Keeping his malevolent laughter in check, Sora teasingly prompted, "Kairi...?"

"...yes?"

"Call me 'Master'."

Kairi was silent for a few seconds before uttering, "Yuffie, I fucking hate you."

"That's not calling me 'Master', Kairi," Sora reminded her while he, Yuffie, and Riku all burst out laughing. Even Kairi started to laugh despite herself after a few seconds.

"Hey! Roxas!" Kairi suddenly cried out, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to see if I can find a way out of here!" Roxas growled. "Why aren't you guys helping or more worried?"

Sora heard a chorus of sighs from the others and added his own to it. "Alright guys, team meeting."

"What, now!?" Roxas grumbled.

"Now seems like as good a time as any," Yuffie remarked.

Sora paused as quiet mostly settled. Roxas still grumbled under his breath and Sora could feel his anxiety and frustration radiating out of him. Collecting his thoughts, Sora waited for another ten seconds before beginning. "Guys, we just got our asses kicked."

None disagreed.

Yuffie quietly put her voice in, lacking a lot of her usual pep. "I don't think we were ready for this. I mean, I convinced myself that I was, but..."

"No, you're right," Sora agreed, "we weren't."

"C'mon," Roxas said, trying to cheer them up, which Sora found the sudden reversal funny, "how were we supposed to prepare for two hundred thousand Heartless suddenly coming at us?"

"No, it isn't that," Kairi quietly agreed. "Even though we spent so much time training, think of how close all of us came to dieing since last night; and not only that, looking back on how we did I can see why the generals all still look down on us as kids."

"We were a mess," Riku agreed. "We had almost no communication, no real planning, no contingencies..."

"Yeah," Sora said with a nod. "We just stocked up on potions and ethers and hoped everything would go our way, really." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "And now Naminé's seriously hurt and you aren't much better, Riku."

They were all quiet in the darkness of the belly of the goddess, letting their words sink in as each's memories of the battle they had been in for the last few hours played in their heads.

"We were told that any order we gave would be followed," Riku said, "but, how many of us actually _gave_ orders to anyone we didn't actually know?"

"I know that I didn't," Yuffie admitted. "I just went and did my own thing."

"Yeah, me too," Kairi added.

"And me," said Roxas.

"Me too," Sora agreed, ignoring the one thing he had shouted, which had then been repeated by everybody else who had power, including King Mickey and his knights.

"Me too..." A voice frailly added.

"Naminé!"

"Not so loud, guys," she whispered. Sora felt a huge pit open up in his stomach, and it felt like he had swallowed an entire peach and it was stuck in his throat. Why did he wish for the Decimator not to attack him instead!?

"How are you feeling?" Roxas asked softly.

"A little better," Naminé replied, "but everything's so dark."

"We-we're inside Athena's stomach," Kairi haltingly answered. Everyone was silent for a few seconds.

"Why are we-?"

"We got pulled through some sort of rift by one of the Nobodies of the Eximius Septum-"

"Xokor."

"Right, him," Kairi continued, "and we ended up in some kind of dark place that wasn't the Realm of Darkness, but we have no idea where it was. Then Athena appeared and offered to grant us a blessing."

"Which Sora accepted and then she promptly snatched up all of us and ate us in one big gulp," Yuffie finished.

"That sounds..." Naminé began, "strange."

Riku huffed. "Yeah, tell us about it. Anyway, you woke up right when we were discussing just how good fighters but terrible soldiers we are."

"I...noticed," she wheezed, and a whimper escaped her lips. Sora felt another stab of pain in his heart. While he was glad that she was alive, why did she have to be suffering in so much pain? He'd seen her before Xokor arrived. Her tabard, mail shirt, and the gambeson covering her chest had all been completely shredded, exposing her abdomen to the vicious energies that the Decimator had unleashed from its shield. The skin where it had contacted was bright red and blistered, with cracks of black and bits of pus. Her left arm had been even worse, blackened and red, and most certainly broken after her shield had exploded on her. The only comparable pain Sora experienced was that of his automail, both in surgery and when it was reconnected after maintenance.

Sora prayed that Naminé wouldn't need to go through that, too.

"So, why are we poor soldiers again?" Yuffie asked nonchalantly. "We did just kick that Decimator's butt, after all."

"We don't like following orders or giving them," Sora answered. "Even in Combat Mastery classes at school I never took to well to being told what to do. I even remember when King Mickey told me to leave Hollow Bast-Radiant Garden when Maleficent attacked it with tons of Heartless earlier this year, right after I found out that the Organization had kidnapped Kairi. He told me to go look for you two, instead of helping out because there was already lots of help there."

"Sora," Yuffie said, sounding surprised, "I never knew that the King told you to get lost and let us take care of it."

"Well, he did," Sora replied, "and Donald, Goofy, and I disobeyed."

"You aren't...the only one who doesn't...do as they're told," Naminé added slowly.

"I think we're all guilty of that," Kairi admitted. Sora could tell that she was probably biting her lip. "So, what are we going to do about it?"

"I...I don't know," Sora answered. "I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"Riku laughed.

"I just..." Sora began, and then shook his head as words escaped him.

"Sora you have nothing to be apologizing to us for," Yuffie told him. "We're a team. If you're going to go blaming yourself or thinking that you've failed then we'll all take that."

"Huh? What?"

"It wasn't just you, Sora: we all failed," Riku told him. "But we'll get better. We'll work at it. We'll do this as a team."

"And we'll become the best damn team anybody's ever seen," Kairi agreed.

"Hard to do that when we're going to be slowly digested inside of a goddess' stomach for the rest of our lives," Roxas grumbled.

Naminé groaned. "_Must _you be the downer?"

"Yeah, read the mood a little," Yuffie piped up. "Even if we're awesome but suck and we're stuck in a lightless death trap there's no need to go reminding us about it."

"Good job _not_ reminding us about that, ninja," Riku said with his usual snark back. The sound of Yuffie probably slapping her forehead, accompanied by her moaning, filled their ears.

Sora laughed. Somehow, that made him feel better, the fact that even after everything that had gone on, he was still able to laugh. It turned out to be infectious, even Roxas joining after being such a stick in the mud.

"You know," Kairi began, "I don't think this is some kind of death trap."

"We are in Athena's stomach," Riku reiterated the fact that they all knew.

"She said that she would bless us," Kairi pointed out, "and I have faith in her."

"Kairi, if you don't mind explaining the mind of the god you somewhat recently converted to," Roxas began, "would you kindly inform the rest of us unenlightened people just what possible blessing could _eating us whole _bestow?"

"I guess we'll find out," Kairi answered. She yawned, and made sounds of intentional stretching. "Nothing to do but wait. Ew. I really hope that whatever this slimy stuff is doesn't mess with my hair."

"Don't worry Kairi," Sora chuckled, "you'll come out of this looking even more beautiful than when we got in."

"Hmph, tell that to my acne."

Yuffie gasped. "You have acne!? Where?"

"Right shoulder, backside."

Before anyone could say anything else, Naminé made a gasping noise that was closer to a shriek. "That _stings!_" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

"I told you! We are all going to die!"

"It stings like a chicken-chasing, rib-stealing, bastard-rearing motherfucker's vomit-tasting potion! Gyargh! _Fuuuck_, it burns!"

"...Naminé," Kairi said slowly, "not that I don't find your creative use of language interesting, but didn't you not have that kind of lung capacity and speech capability ten minutes ago?"

"No, I-" she hissed, "I didn't."

"Naminé," Sora asked quickly, "how's your arm?"

They all waited with baited breath for her reply. They could hear something moving in liquid.

"Tender."

"Quick, get us a light! No fire!"

"Ha, ha" Kairi replied dryly. "Cover your eyes, everyone."

Nothing happened.

"Uh, Kairi?"

"Hang on, let me try again!"

"Is it safe to 'open' our eyes again?"

"Dammit! Are we in a magic dead zone?"

"I didn't know that the inside of an immortal's stomach could be a magic dead zone," Sora said with raised eyebrows.

"On second thought," Naminé said, "maybe it's a good thing you can't make an orb of light, Kairi."

"And _why's_ that?" Kairi asked in genuine annoyance.

"Because I was just checking out the condition of my chest and while the skin is quite sore and in pain, I've discovered that my tabard and armour have been trashed in the front and everyone would be able to see my boobs if we had any light."

Sora blushed but couldn't help but join in the immature snorting that erupted from the blonde's statement.

"It's not funny!" Naminé complained. "I don't want you guys staring at my chest!"

"I never would have guessed, Naminé," Yuffie chortled, "considering how much of an exhibitionist you are."

"Hey, I may strip down to my underwear because it's ungodly hot, but that's because I'm an ice user. It doesn't mean that I'm comfortable with people seeing my naked breasts! And Yuffie, Kairi, I'm shooting you both jealous glares!"

"What for?" Kairi asked.

"Because both of yours are bigger than mine!"

"Hey, Tifa's got cat fow, bleh, **fat cow** tits that are bigger than all of ours combined so your argument is invalid!"

Riku spoke up with quiet apprehension. "Uh, are we guys allowed to get in on this conversation?"

"Depends," Naminé said tersely. "How willing are you three to get neutered?"

Sora rolled his eyes. "Oh come on," he said. "You three are not about to do that just because we join in a conversation about boobs that you three started. If you don't want to talk about them, talk about something else."

"Spoil sport," Kairi said with a teasing tone.

"Kairi, I know for a fact that you want kids so there is no way you would do that to me." He chuckled and assumed that she was blushing.

"Really?" Yuffie asked. "How many?"

"Uh...I used to think of wanting three, but maybe four or five," Kairi answered awkwardly.

"Five? Wow," Riku remarked, "you'd better get on that, Sora."

"I just," Kairi stammered, "I just want a big family, is all. After everything that's...I want a large family," she finished quietly.

Sensing the sudden weight in the air, Sora's mind raced as he tried to come up with a change of topic. Something, anything, that they could talk about in complete and total darkness that wasn't adult or dealt with what had happened to their personal lives in the past few months because of Maleficent and the Heartless.

Roxas beat him to it.

"Hey Kairi," he said inquiringly, "what's your favourite flavour of ice cream?"

"Ice cream?" Kairi asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Roxas replied. "I just realized that I have no idea what your favourite is."

She was silent for a few seconds. "Uh," Kairi answered, "a tie between raspberry ripple and fudge caramel."

"Have you _tried_ sea-salt ice cream?" Roxas asked, insulted. "Need I remind you that for a day I was the God of Ice Cream?"

"I remember that day," Naminé sighed, "you made it snow ice cream in Twilight Town."

"Hey I remember that day too," Yuffie said. "Kairi and I spent it playing cards in bed because shit happened when we were fighting."

"Yeah," Kairi agreed before adding in a clearly audible undertone, "fucking stone golems."

"Forget them," Sora complained, "Cloud needs to get off his lazy bum and do something about Sephiroth."

"What? Do my ears deceive me?" Riku said. "Did Sora just call somebody else lazy?"

In this manner they passed the time in the darkness, talking about anything and everything in order to keep their minds off of their apparent confinement. Eventually, however, a lull came into the conversation that lasted long enough for boredom to settle in.

Sora clicked his tongue. "I spy with my little eye, something that is...black."

"The darkness?" Riku asked with a groan.

"Yep. Go."

"I spy with my little eye something beginning with 'd'," Riku said.

"The darkness?" answered Sora.

"Yep. Go."

Sora sighed. "I spy with my little eye..."

"It's the darkness!" Roxas spat. "That is the only fucking thing you can see, the darkness. And then Riku's is going to be the darkness too!"

"I spy with my little eye," Sora began again in the same bored, tired voice, "someone being an asshole."

"Roxas!" everyone but Roxas and Sora shouted.

"All right, enough picking on Roxas," Naminé said lightly. "Is there anything else we can do?"

"Considering that this is a stomach, and Whamon's ate our raft pretty quickly, and we have yet to be digested..." Kairi began, "and that Naminé was actually healed instead of dissolved, and that I'm feeling a little sleepy, I'm gonna take a nap."

"Sounds like a good plan," Sora agreed, and stretched into the stomach wall. "After all that fighting we did this morning, a nap is a good idea."

"How do you think the battle's going without us anyway?" Yuffie asked with a yawn.

"Probably fine," Kairi said as the sounds of people moving about entered Sora's ears. "She said that she would make sure that it wouldn't be lost until we are able to make it back." Sora felt something wet and possibly metallic touch his neck. "Sora?" Kairi whispered.

"Uh-huh."

He could almost feel her smile as Kairi snuggled up next to him, their armour rubbing up together in a somewhat comforting jangle. Sora draped his arm over her body while Kairi tucked her head under his chin. He kissed her wet, and somewhat slimy, hair gently. "Sweet sleep, Kairi."

"Sweet sleep, Sora."

Eventually, as the talk died down to whispers and the rumbles of snoozing breath, one by one they all succumbed to their weariness, and rested in the warm darkness.

-A-D-

Light woke them. Light, wetness, and pressure. The light was reflecting black, so at first none of them were able to understand why their eyes were stinging, but one glance at each other and discovering that they could see shapes and the beginnings of colour was enough to bring clarity. Their bodies were coated in a thick, colourless liquid, far more than what they had previously been exposed to, and all around an intense pressure squeezing them, pushing them out towards the light.

Sora found himself unable to talk, unable to utter a single syllable as Kairi was crushed against him with any number of his friends behind him, pressing hard on his back.

It seemed like an eternity, but in reality it only lasted for a couple of minutes before, with one great convulsion of the walls around them, all six Keyblade Wielders were propelled out from an opening. Sora sucked in giant breaths that made his racing heart and burning lungs feel like bursting as soon as the pressure was released. He wasn't sure how much of the fluid he sucked in with the air, but it was enough to make him hack and cough. The ground beneath him was completely black, but he could see his hands and the fluid splashed against the ground clearly. It seemed that they were still in the place beyond the rift that the grasping claws had taken them too.

"Oh, eww," Yuffie said, sounding like she was going to be sick. "I'm gonna throw up now." Over the sound of Yuffie's retching, Sora turned back to look at her, and a sick chill immediately overcame him and he vomited as well. The truth of what had just happened to them was more disturbing than he'd thought possible.

The compromising position of Athena and the part or her body that he could clearly see made it all too clear. They had never been in Athena's stomach; they been inside of her womb.

Athena stood up and rearranged her garments while the six of them recovered, Kairi and Riku rubbing Sora's and Yuffie's backs in sympathy with the two who had seen what they'd seen and could never unsee refusing to tell them what it was for the rest of their days.

"That took far longer than I expected," Athena said, troubled. "Diomedes and all of my children were in and out in a couple of seconds. It took over six hours for you six."

"Six hours?" Naminé asked in a frightened squeak. She looked down and quickly covered her chest with her arms. Moments later, Roxas removed the drenched purple and gold cape from his back and passed it to her, and Naminé gave him a grateful smile as she covered herself with it.

"Closer to seven, actually," Athena corrected her.

"Then...is the battle over?" Yuffie asked. "Is Radiant Garden still around, or has it been wiped out, again?" She hung her head, almost choking on her last word, or maybe she was choking back another round of vomiting.

"No," Athena said simply. "No, it has not ended yet, and the world is not lost." She gazed down at them, and gave them all a small smile. "In fact, I feel as though barely any time at all has passed outside of this place, though nearly seven hours have passed for us."

Sora shivered. The fluid that coated them was beginning to dry, and he was starting to feel somewhat jittery in addition to the chill the trauma of the ordeal was giving him. "What do you mean?" Kairi asked. "Are you saying that we're in a world that hasn't been synched with the rest of the Realm of Light?"

"My children," Athena began, her smile increasing in size and warmth, "you are not even within the Realm of Light anymore. Nor are you in the Realm of Darkness. That rift you passed through brought you into a different dimension. The rules that govern existence do not function in quite the same way here. I sense that there is a powerful entity that governs this place, and that for you to leave this dimension there are certain tasks that must be completed to its satisfaction."

"So then that means that that Nobody sent us here to do something," Riku surmised, "not simply to get us out of the way. And no matter how long it takes for us to do that thing that needs doing, not enough time should have passed back on Radiant Garden for either side to win."

Sora frowned. "Then, I wonder if Xokor's really a bad guy."

"Good or not," Kairi quickly broke in, "that rift thing was scary."

"Point," Yuffie agreed, giving Kairi a nod.

"Then again," Riku countered, "your Night powers are freaking terrifying. In City of Bells you had giant black hands of shadow come out from the ground and snatch up Heartless and Frollo's guards."

"Another point," Yuffie conceded.

"Wait, wait, wait," Roxas spoke up, kneeling and moving his hands in front of him. He looked up at the goddess. "What the heck was swallowing us for?"

Athena's smile slipped a little. "I have granted you six, favoured of the Gods of Olympus, a great boon. You are already Keyblade Wielders, bestowed blessings of the Ancient Gods of the Cetra, and six of the Legendary Wielders of Power, gifted with the ability to converse with the sentient souls of your weapons and draw upon even more strength from your hearts. As such, you are figures of great importance to the Realm of Light."

"The point?" Roxas interjected.

"Roxas!" Riku hissed.

"Forgive him," Kairi quickly begged, "he's still upset."

"No offence was taken, and I was dallying," Athena calmly addressed them. "This may come as a shock to you, but the six of you have been born again."

_Figured that,_ Sora thought, and the desire to retch again welled up in his throat.

"Born again?" Naminé, Kairi, Riku, and Roxas all asked at once.

"All six of you are now my children," Athena said, "demigods of Olympus."

Athena was right, they were in shock.

"WHAT!?" Sora and Yuffie, both the first to recover, screamed. "You mean," Sora stammered, "you mean like Hercules?"

"More like Annabeth," Athena replied with a renewed smile.

"But I thought that Annabeth Chase _was_ your daughter?" Naminé asked.

"Naminé, my newborn child, I am chaste," Athena answered, appearing tickled at Naminé's reaction to being called a newborn. "I do not partake in sexual acts with others; god, mortal, or otherwise. All of my children I have made as I have you."

"And how did you-"

"So, beyond being 'demigod'," Yuffie quickly interrupted Kairi, an action Sora fervently agreed with, "what sort of thing did this blessing of yours grant?"

"Nothing truly significant," Athena answered. "In fact, the abilities you already have thanks to your Keyblades and the ability to use magic alone are far more than any blessing I can grant, but being my children does have its benefits. You now have the blood of immortals in you; you will be harder to injure by mundane means. You will also be able to discern, with a little effort, immortals as they truly are. In addition, as my children, it will be a little easier for you to understand and apply new concepts."

"So our bodies are tougher," surmised Riku, "we can see gods for who they are if they're disguised if we concentrate, and we can learn things easier?"

"Precisely," Athena answered brightly. "See? You're doing it already."

Dryly came Riku's reply. "I'd like to think that I wasn't the dumb one before you swallowed us."

"Whether you were or weren't, your ability to learn has expanded," Athena replied. "Now I must away. I have to see Persephone in hopes that she will distract Hades for me."

"Why do you need Hades to be distracted?" Sora asked. Athena turned towards him.

"I told you before that I would make sure that the battle would not be lost before your return. I intend to keep my word. As I cannot directly participate, champions of mine from the past will fight in my stead, and they reside in Hades." Athena bowed her head. "Fare thee well, my children. We shall meet again."

Athena vanished.

The moment she was gone, Sora and Yuffie exchanged glances, and threw up again before retiring to the fetal position. Their friends and loved ones immediately called out their names and went to them.

Sora and Yuffie resisted telling them just why they were feeling sick, even though the bodies of all six of them were feeling somewhat the same. Still, the information that Athena had fed them wasn't too difficult for the other four to piece together the truth.

-A-D-

Two hours later they felt calm enough to leave that space and begin exploring this black plane. Having absolutely no clues to go off of, they unanimously decided upon a random direction, and started to walk.

"I still can't believe she-" began Riku.

"Shut up!" Kairi scolded. "I do _not_ want to think about that."

"Is there anything not absolutely disgusting that we can talk about while we walk?" Naminé asked.

"We could sing a song," Sora offered.

"Nah," Yuffie said, stretching her arms behind her head. "Let's just walk in companionable silence for a bit." She stealthily slipped her hand into Riku's. Kairi rubbed up next to Sora, both of them having replaced their helmets which had been found a short distance away from their landing zone, and he linked his right arm with her left. They chuckled a little.

"You know," Naminé said from just behind and beside them, "any other day this would seem like an oddly romantic triple-date if we actually knew where we were or where we were going."

"Are you kidding, Naminé?" Yuffie asked. "Practically all of our group dates have involved fighting of some kind."

"Don't jinx this one," Riku said with a smile, "I'd rather not scare the crap out of you again."

"Yeah, 'cause you know what will happen if you do."

"Potions," Riku grumbled.

"And kisses to wash them down," Yuffie consoled him.

"Then where was the kiss from that last one?" Riku demanded. Yuffie abruptly grasped his mail shirt by the neck and pulled him down into one.

Kairi laughed. "Right in one, sis. Looking oddly like a triple-date right now. Just look at Roxas, I mean he's such a gentleman."

"Yep," Roxas said with great smugness as he carried Naminé in his arms with hers slung around his neck. His cape was still draped over her chest, the blonde now using it as a comfortable modesty blanket. "Gentleman all the way. All I need now is my suit."

"Suit?" Sora asked. "Nah. Armour all the way. Makes you more dashing. Hold up." He stopped and pointed. On the ground in front of them were strange yellow triangular markings.

"What do you think these are?" Riku wondered.

"Tracks?"

"What kind of animal has bright yellow triangular footprints?" Yuffie muttered to Kairi.

"This is another dimension, right?" Kairi replied. "It isn't in the Realm of Light, so we have no idea what could have made these."

"Maybe it's a path,." Naminé posed. "It is pointing that way, and it's in a parallel double line in a single direction. Maybe something is telling us to go that way."

"I'd rather not trust arrows on the ground with our direction," Riku stated.

"Well it's the only clue we've got about finding anything in this place," Roxas said. "I think we should follow them."

"I agree," Sora said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

-A-D-

It seemed as though Murphy did not take the bait Sora so temptingly offered him. For a while after they began following the triangle path, nothing new happened to them. Then, on the horizon and growing closer with every step, they were able to discern a forest in the distance. Sora hoped that they'd be able to find food there, and Roxas pondered whether or not they would have to hunt and kill it or if there would be a kind family they could mooch off of for a night, even though 'night' seemed to be figurative with the entire ground and sky completely black yet they were inexplicably able to see as though in daylight.

They came closer and eventually entered the woods, suddenly finding a world of varied colour about them and a lightening sky. The trees were spaced relatively far apart from each other, with a clear lane cut between them wide enough for two people along the triangle path. Scrub was initially sparse, and the trees looked off, but Sora couldn't quite place just why they did.

Riku was the first one to figure it out, pointing at their twisted roots above ground and commenting with, "Huh, square roots." The others all looked at the bases of the trees with their trunks breaking into roots above the ground.

Kairi knelt down and peered at one closely. "You're right," she said. "They're all square."

"Look further up," Naminé said, pointing. "It looks like those ones are carved like numbers."

They all blinked in amazement as they continued, and found trees with trunks like the number '3' or '5', and small bushes with 'X's for leaves. On a tree branch were three shapes that looked like the could have been creatures, except that two of them were polygons with legs and eyes, and another a circle with the same. The triangle suddenly jumped in front of the rectangle and the circle behind the rectangle, making it look like it was one creature instead of three, and then it began talking as if it was with the triangle looking like a professor's moustache. "_Pi_ is equal to 3.141592653589747, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera."

To their bewilderment, the creature disassembled into its original three shapes before it was even finished talking, and stared at them as they continued on.

"What kinda place is this?" Roxas asked as they hopped on triangular rocks over a stream that had numbers flowing in the water, still following the triangular markings on the ground.

"You know," Sora said slowly, taking his helmet off and looking around again, "I think Donald mentioned this place once."

"Really?" Kairi asked as everyone perked up to listen. "Donald's been here before?"

"He mentioned a place like this," Sora said. "I can't remember what he called it, but it was basically Math Wonderland."

"Math Wonderland?" asked Naminé. She shook her head. "Sorry, Sora, but I've seen your memories. Do not want."

Riku groaned. "Trees with square roots. _Square roots._"

_**How can you say that you don't want it if you haven't experienced it yet?**_

They all stopped dead in their tracks. A chill rolled down Sora's neck.

"Did all of you hear that charismatic disembodied voice?" Yuffie asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Good," Naminé said, "then I'm not the only one going crazy."

There was a chuckle.

_**No, you're not going crazy, Naminé, and thank you, Yuffie, for calling me charismatic.**_

"Um, you're welcome," Yuffie replied cautiously.

_**Sora,**_

"Yes!?" he yelped immediately.

_**Has Donald been letting his head get all messy and forgotten everything he learned here?**_

"Well, he told me about here," Sora answered, "so I think he remembers at least some of it. You are...the True Spirit of Adventure, right?"

_**That is correct. Would all of you like to embark upon a grand adventure through the wonderland of mathematics?**_

"I'm fine with learning my trigonometry and quadratics and permutations and combinations at school, thank you," Riku answered.

The True Spirit of Adventure chuckled. _**Riku, there is much more to mathematics than what your high school math teachers would have you think.**_

"Dammit," Riku muttered under his breath.

_**For example, you like music, don't you? Without mathematics, music would not exist.**_

"I honestly doubt that," Sora refuted, folding his arms. It didn't take a genius to understand why. Sora, who played an acoustic guitar well enough, wasn't about to let _math_ get in the way of music.

The spirit chuckled again. _**You'll find math in the darndest places, you know. **_A string suddenly appeared in the air in front of him, drawn good and tight. _**Pluck it.**_ Sora did so, right in the middle, and the string bounced back and forth, creating a pleasant tone. _**Good. Now divide the string in half and pluck it again.**_

Again, Sora did so, and a different sound occurred as the string bounced back and forth, much more frequently. _**You see? It's the same tone, one octave higher.**_

"I know," Sora said simply. "I know music theory. I also know that I'll get a different note if I pluck a different section of the string, like so."

"And I know that if you ask us to graph the first note, that it's a sine wave," Yuffie added while the sound of Sora's second pluck tickled their ears. Everyone looked at her. "What?" Yuffie asked with a why-are-you-all-looking-at-me-like-that expression on her face. "Did all of you forget that I'm older than you, went to school most of the time in Traverse Town, and was cooped up with Merlin, who is crazy smart and demanded that I learn arithmetic and other scholastic stuff from him?"

"You studied with Merlin?" Riku asked skeptically.

"Well I may have skipped a few times and claimed to have Restoration Committee stuff to do when I didn't," Yuffie admitted, "but you studied with Ansem the Wise! That's like, a crazy good scholarship right there!"

"And I slept for a year," Sora added, taking his trademark pose. "That was a good nap."

_**Were you studying that musical theory while you were asleep, Sora?**_

He flinched.

Kairi giggled. "That would be a 'no'," she answered for him.

"Hey, you try learning anything when you're asleep for a year because people were messing around with your memories," he responded. Sora quickly turned towards Naminé. "No offence."

"None taken," she replied breezily with a wave of her hand. "Oops," she added, quickly grabbing Roxas' cloak and pulling it back up.

Sora groaned. "Look, just because music is pitch, volume, and frequency and can be explained through mathematical formulas does not mean that it wouldn't exist if we didn't know the math to understand its existence. All we need is our creativity and the ability to hear sounds and go, 'Hm, that sounds neat. Let's try this,' and continue on."

"Sora," Riku responded, "pitch is frequency."

The True Spirit of Adventure chuckled again. _**That is also correct. However, just because you do not need to understand the mathematical principle behind music to create it does not mean that mathematics holds no place in it. In your example, if the mathematics behind music were never to be fully understood, then there would be no consistency in our musical keys or the construction of instruments.**_

Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I guess."

_**Perhaps a practical example will serve you all well. Come on; let's go to Ancient Rome.**_

A whirlwind surrounded them. Suddenly Sora found that he was out of his armour and dressed instead in a white tunic and plum coloured skirt that reached a little past his knees, he glanced around at his companions, and saw that all of them were similarly dressed. He had to admit, Yuffie and Kairi looked nice with their hair suddenly up in knots behind their heads. Much brighter sunlight lit the area, and Sora discovered that they were no longer in a forest but in a clearing outside of a large wooden wall.

"Where are we?" Naminé asked.

"And what are we wearing?" Kairi wondered, looking over the white dress she was in.

_Wait a sec, why am I not wearing pants? _Sora thought, looking down. A breeze rustled by and his eyes widened at the feel of the cool air. _Holy crap, why am I suddenly commando!?_

"I think I know what that is," Riku announced, indicating the wall in front of them and sweeping his finger from side to side and appearing not to have noticed the startling fact Sora just had or he was very good at that poker face of his. "This looks like a fortified Roman camp like Totorum or Compendium."

_**Precisely, Riku. The Ancient Roman Legions used musical instruments in order to relay commands in battle and during daily training. Each instrument was mathematically designed to create a specific note that could be easily heard and identified in order to accurately give direction to the legionnaires and auxiliaries.**_

A low rolling note filled the air, coming from somewhere inside the camp. Figures on top of the walls began to move.

"What was that?" Sora asked.

_**They're changing the watch.**_

"Well that's an interesting way to do it," Naminé remarked. "I like it."

_**However, that is enough for today,**_ the Spirit of Adventure abruptly declared, and they suddenly found themselves back in the forest in their former clothes, except for Naminé who was still wearing the dress over the remainder of her armour.

"You're stopping?" Kairi asked. "Why?"

_**You have all been through much, and there will be plenty of time to discuss more mathematical matters with you. You're all bright and do not take your schooling for granted, but there are lessons that you will learn here, in time, that will be the key to your return to your own world.**_

"What do you mean by that?" Sora asked. "What lessons?"

_**You will find out tomorrow.**_

"Oh, very informative Mr. Spirit," Roxas muttered. He flinched and backed away suddenly as a series of geometric shapes suddenly began appearing on the ground in front of him, each shape an equal distance from the other in two parallel lines.

_**Here. Follow the path before you, and you will find lodging prepared for you. There is much to learn and much time to do it in.**_

"But we need to get back to Radiant Garden as quickly as possible!" Yuffie argued.

_**Don't worry. Time is different here. You are experiencing time twelve thousand times faster than in Radiant Garden.**_

"Excuse me?" Kairi asked.

_**For every second that passes in Radiant Garden; for every second that their fight continues, you spend three and one third hours here. Every ten hours here equates to three seconds for them, or a hundred hours, that is four days and four hours, for only half a minute.**_

"But a lot can happen in thirty seconds!" Roxas blurted out.

_**Even more can happen in four days and four hours. Think of all of the knowledge you can absorb and all of the lessons that can be learned.**_

Naminé sighed. "I think we should just do as he says. Athena did say that she would make sure we haven't lost, and if time's passing like he says it is I really don't think enough time has passed on the other side for us to be worrying our heads off right now."

"Naminé's right," Sora agreed. "Let's see where he's putting us up for the night."

"Lead on," Yuffie said quietly with a resigned note in her voice.

-A-D-

It took them over another hour of following the path through the mathematical wilderness before they found themselves standing in front of the lodgings the True Spirit of Adventure said had been prepared for them. It was like nothing any of them had been expecting. Instead of a cottage or other low-level building with one, or potentially two, floors like what seems customary for being in a small clearing in the middle of a forest, there was a tall tower, at least twelve stories high, with a conical shingled roof that glowed red in the light of the sunset behind it. A simple blue flag hung limply at the very top of the tower, no breeze present to ruffle it.

"We're staying here?" Roxas asked.

"Nice," Riku said, rubbing his chin. "I like it."

Kairi tapped Sora's arm. "Sora, don't you think these...lodgings...have kind of a _long-term_ look to them?"

"Yeah, they do," he answered cautiously. "Hey Mr. Spirit?"

_**Yes, Sora?**_

"Uh, how long will we be staying here for?" Sora asked.

_**This tower will serve as your main accommodations until such time as the conditions facilitating your departure are met.**_

"And those conditions are?" Sora continued with a rotation of his wrist.

_**To be revealed to you in the morning.**_ The group groaned. _**Don't be like that. The evening is yours and there can be no more peaceful place. As I understand it, you six teenagers just defeated a Heartless many times your size and strength. Should you not take some time to celebrate?**_

"You know what?" Roxas asked the group at large. "I agree with him. We just kicked some serious ass! Let's party."

"Well," Kairi added slowly, flicking her tongue out to wet her lips before it disappeared inside of her mouth again, "if we do have as much time as the Spirit says, and if I were the one to deliver the finishing blow on a megazoid Heartless that nearly killed me a dozen times, and I had just been told to celebrate that sweet, sweet win, I'd be kissing my girlfriend right about now."

"I'm sorry, Kairi," Sora teased. "I didn't realize you were a lesbian. I'll let you and Yuffie make out now."

"Yes!" Yuffie declared with a fist-pump. "Now we can be open about it instead of sneaking off when nobody's looking."

"What!?" Naminé blurted in shock. She turned towards Kairi, an unreadable expression on her face. "But, but I thought that I was your girlfriend?"

"Kairi how could you!?" Yuffie shouted accusingly. "I can't believe that you'd cheat on me with Naminé!"

Kairi raised her head to the sky and balled her hands into fists. "I have _needs_! I can't help it who I get to fulfill them!"

"You dirty slut," Naminé said evenly.

Roxas looked around in total bewilderment. "Is this for real?" he asked.

Sora laughed while the three girls glared at him. "Roxas, they're toying with us," Sora said. "Although," he admitted, "seeing Kairi and Yuffie kiss would be kinda hot." He winced. "I wasn't supposed to say that out loud. Open mouth, insert foot…"

Kairi rolled her eyes and Yuffie shrugged. "I'd do it," said the ninja.

"You'd what?" said the boys.

"You'd _what_!?" said Kairi.

"_If_," Yuffie proposed, slyly glancing around and wagging her finger, "_if..._Sora and Riku kiss and we're allowed a commemorative photo of it."

"No," Sora replied immediately. He looked at Kairi as she looked between him and Riku. She looked like she was performing mental calculations. "No!"

"Equivalent exchange," she murmured before her voice gained volume and her eyes gained deviousness. "It's a fair trade. I'll kiss Yuffie if you kiss Riku."

"But we aren't bi," Riku refuted.

"Well neither are we!" Yuffie retaliated. "So if you want to see us do something that uncomfortable, you have to do the same. Give and take."

"Naminé, pass the popcorn," Roxas requested as the pair settled in to watch. The bickering over the details and rewards lasted for at least five minutes while the sun continued to set before Sora broke it apart by asking for a third option.

"And what would that be?" Yuffie huffed in annoyance. Sora responded by grabbing Kairi, Flash-Stepping away to the base of the tower, pinning her back against it, and kissing her; just like she had requested in the first place.

"Hmph," Yuffie scoffed with an amused smirk playing on her face. "That dashing rogue." Riku laughed and placed his arm over her shoulder.

"Come on," he said, "let's go and explore the tower." Roxas and Naminé followed them towards the tower, and they all glanced at Sora and Kairi, completely oblivious to them as they exchanged words between kisses.

"You're incredible." A kiss.

"You're amazing." Another kiss.

"You're a hero." Kairi clutched Sora's head in her hands and held him tightly to her.

"You're gorgeous."

"I have acne."

"Your acne's gorgeous."

Naminé giggled at just how cliché that sounded, and nearly skipped into the tower on Roxas' heels to leave the pair alone.

-A-D-

_Put me and this story on alters and forget about it for a while guys, because it's going to be some time before I'm able to get another update out. That's not because I don't love you guys or am struggling, but because I want to have the majority of this part done before I start posting it. This is just to whet your appetites, let you know what's happened to the main cast, and let you know that I'm still here and working on stuff._

_Oh, and an announcement for you all. Due to our recent collaboration exploits, __**Shadow Horizons**__ has been made an official story consultant and assistant editor. Welcome him to the team, everybody!_

_**May the Grace of the Valar Protect You**_

_Shire Folk_


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